travel Archives - Marnie Johnston

June 26, 2023June 26, 2023

Top Tips for Flying Long Haul with a Toddler

We recently travelled from our home in the UK to Australia to visit my family – a 36 hour door-to-door journey, with a 2.5 year old in tow – including two long haul flights.

I was super nervous, as I had no idea how my daughter would cope with the long journey, considering she’d never been on an airplane, or out of the country, before this trip.

I’m pleased to tell you, the transit went way better than I was expecting, and our mini traveller exceeded all our expectations, not just during the flight, but throughout all legs of the journey.

In my last post I shared with you a breakdown of everything I packed in my carry on bag to help the journey go as smoothly as possible for our family, and now I’m going to share with you my top tips for long haul flights with a toddler.

July 31, 2022July 31, 2022

What’s in my carry on bag: Long haul flight with a toddler

We just got back from a wonderful trip visiting my family in Australia – a 36 hour door-to-door journey from our home here in the United Kingdom.

Not only was this possibly one of the longest long haul transits we could have done, it also happened to be my 2.5 year old daughter’s first international adventure/first time on a plane ever.

Needless to say, I was very nervous about making the trip, and made sure to research all the things that would help make the journey as smooth as possible for us as a family, as well as our fellow passengers.

During the transit (which involved a taxi ride, two hours on a coach, 13.5 hour flight, layover, 7.5 hour flight, then a 2.5 hour drive) I would have been lost without my “bag of tricks” to keep my toddler entertained, fed and content – which it most certainly did! Honestly, the journey went way better than I could have ever hoped!

I thought I would share with you what I packed in this “bag of tricks” in the hopes that it may help your family on a long journey too.

March 22, 2022March 22, 2022

Toddler’s first theme park experience! Our weekend at Gulliver’s Land

This past weekend we took our 2.5 year old daughter, Ada, on her first ever theme park experience, at Gulliver’s Land Milton Keynes.

We had such a wonderful time that I thought I would share our experience with you – despite the fact that I haven’t made a YouTube video in two years! (I know, I’m sorry – having a baby, battling postnatal depression and anxiety, then a pandemic hitting wasn’t exactly the most conducive situation for content creating)

August 5, 2019August 5, 2019

A Day In Transylvania, Romania

Transylvania often conjures pictures into ones mind of great looming castles and murderous vampires that transform into bats and fly across the mountains.

Well, one part of that is correct at least (hint: It’s not the vampires).

Some people don’t even realise Transylvania is a real place, not just a made-up land from storybooks. However, it is – and until the Romanian Unification in 1918 it was its own province.

The region of Transylvania located in the centre to north west of Romania, and is bordered on the east and south by the Carpathian Mountain Range.

June 26, 2019June 26, 2019

Bucharest’s secret treats – Romania

Home to around 2 million people, Bucharest is both the capital and largest city in former Communist nation, Romania.

I’ll admit, while I’ve had the urge to explore Eastern Europe for some time now, Bucharest as an individual location wasn’t high on my priority list.

But just a few days in this history-filled city that was once known as “Little Paris” was enough to have me recommending to everyone I spoke to that they give Bucharest a try.

From the expanse of social, political and cultural history on offer, to the friendly people, good food, abundance of beer – especially in the beautiful Old Town area (not that I could enjoy it, as I was pregnant at the time) – and ease of accessibility to get around on foot or subway, there were so many things that made Bucharest a winning travel destination to me.

May 26, 2019May 28, 2019

Magical times at the Harry Potter Studio Tour, London

As someone who was a child when the first Harry Potter books were originally released, and then the first movies too, I was definitely one of those humans who was caught firmly in the grips of HP fever.

I shouldn’t say “was”, because – let us be honest – I still am. I still re-read the books every other year, and will forever have the Deathly Hallows symbol tattooed on the skin over my ribcage to remind me of my love for this wizarding world which gave me happiness, hope, and sometimes pure escape during my childhood.

The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released when I was 5 years old, in 1997, but it was in early 1999, at the age of 7 (and an avid bookworm by this point already), when I first came across it.

September 21, 2018

The funnest marathon on earth? Marathon du Medoc, France

A marathon where you are encouraged to get tipsy, and it’s mandatory fancy dress – is it a dream or a nightmare?

For thousands, it seems, it’s a dream – and one that they get to live out in reality once a year near Bordeaux, France.

Marathon du Medoc, held every year in September, includes more than 20 wine stops along the 42km track plus offers specialities such as oysters, steak, and ice-cream too.

This year I got to head to Paulliac, the small village where the race starts and finishes, to experience Medoc for the first time – From the sidelines, of course! I had the cough very important job cough of being cheerleader to my fiance, Dan, that kept me much too busy to run it myself.

That, and the fact that I’m extremely unfit and the idea of a marathon gives me shivers…

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September 14, 2018

Incredibly grand AirBnB in Bordeaux, France

~~Paris~~ France is always a good idea, right?

Definitely!

And the beauty of living in England is that I can pop over whenever I damn well please… Although, it’s more likely whenever my bank balance pleases… I think all of us here know the struggle to live on a ordinary salary with the extraordinary urge to travel.

In fact, last week I got to visit France for the first time since I moved to the UK just over a year ago, which I find astounding, as the land of the French is just so accessible to us here in Great Britain.

I just hadn’t gotten the chance yet.

But anyway, the point is: I FINALLY got around to going there (Again – I visited back in 2013 on my first trip to Europe) last week when my fiance, myself, and a few of our friends headed to the Bordeaux region for a marathon Dan and two others in the group were set to run (More on that next week!).

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September 4, 2018

Hiking the Korea Friendship Walk – The Cotswolds, England

One of the things I love most about living in the UK is the closeness to so many different places and experiences.

You can drive for less an hour from Bristol and be in Wales, for example, or just over two hours to London.

There are so many possibilities for day trips, and Dan and I have made it our mission to take advantage of this fact whilst we can.

One activity we’ve decided to do more regularly is to go on day trips to walk different hiking trails nearby Bristol, and – on longer trips – further afield across the United Kingdom.

We both enjoy hiking, and although Dan is more experienced at it than I am, I’m keen to step up to his level.

Hiking is great for many reasons, but two of my favourite are:

The exercise factor – It’s great for both your physical and mental wellbeing
The nature factor – I love getting out into nature, and I know it’s probably related to the fact that being outdoors has been proven to enhance mental wellbeing as well.

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July 13, 2018

Learning how to make gin with Brennen and Brown’s Lab Experience

I must start this blog post by stating that I don’t really like gin.

Yes, I’m actually beginning a post entirely about gin by remarking that I don’t even enjoy the stuff. Good job, Marnie, good job.

But this point is very important to this story.

Gin, to me, is hugely associated with the English – and with a history surrounding English and Dutch soldiers, then it’s major rise in popularity over the last five years in the UK, plus it being my British fiance’s drink of choice, it’s no wonder I associate the liquor with England.

Being from Australia, where gin is not often a drink of choice (in fact, I only have one friend that I’ve EVER seen drinking it) I’d hardly been exposed to gin before meeting my now-fiance, Dan.

Since then, it’s been Dan’s mission to get me to enjoy the spirit, of which he has served to me with various mixers, a large array of garnishes and a number of different botanicals, but to no avail.

However, Dan and I were lucky enough to recently take part in a Lab Experience at Brennen and Brown Distillery in Cheltenham, England.

Despite my lack of fondness for gin, I know how much Dan loves it, so I organised it as a present for his 30th birthday (What an awesome fiance I am, I know! 😆)

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